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Pirre Nkurunziza warns groups opposed to his third term

Monday February 16 2015

Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza talks during an interview at the Westin hotel in Paris on June 4, 2014. On February 15, 2015, he said he would run for a third term if his party gives him the green light. PHOTO | FRANCOIS GUILLOT | AFP.

In Summary

Nkurunziza will stand if selected to run by his ruling CNDD-FDD party "in compliance with the constitution" said spokesman Willy Nyamitwe.

Rights groups have warned of growing fears of the risk of violence ahead of elections, with a string of attacks including a five-day battle last month between the army and rebels.

The political climate remains fractious ahead of local, parliamentary and presidential polls in May and June.

Burundi's president will bid for a third term in June elections if selected by his party, his spokesman said Sunday, defying campaigners who say such a move would violate the Constitution and risk violence.

President Pierre Nkurunziza will stand if selected to run by his ruling CNDD-FDD party "in compliance with the constitution" said spokesman Willy Nyamitwe.

The announcement follows the launch of a campaign by over 300 civil society groups earlier this month calling on Nkurunziza not to run for a third term to "prevent further violence."

The group called for the president to "take a lesson" from neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, where deadly protests broke out in January over opposition fears that President Joseph Kabila was trying to extend his stay in power.

But Mr Nyamitwe warned that anyone seeking to spark protests would face the law.

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Sat Jan 10 18:34:22 EAT 2015

Considering its lengthy history of devastating ethnic conflicts and monumental mayhem that took decades to curtail, recent reports of mounting violence and instability in Burundi are by all accounts alarming.